Trevor Painter & Jenny Meadows Named BBC Coach of the Year

Trevor Painter and Jenny Meadows received the BBC Sports Personality Coach of the Year award after their success in guiding Keely Hodgkinson to Olympic gold at Paris 2024. Hodgkinson, 22, claimed her first global 800m title in August alongside retaining her European title. She also set a new British record of 1:54.61, becoming the sixth-fastest woman in history for the event. In addition to their work with Hodgkinson, Painter and Meadows’ Manchester-based M11 Track Club contributed to Team GB’s success with Georgia Bell winning 1500m bronze and Lewis Davey claiming bronze in the men’s 4x400m relay.

Painter, who had previously coached Meadows to world and European success, shared the stage with her after their partnership in coaching Hodgkinson led to significant achievements. Meadows praised Painter’s leadership and his ability to foster a culture of hard work and fun. Painter humorously acknowledged how unusual it was for him to speak at the awards, as Meadows usually does the talking. Hodgkinson’s Olympic gold in Paris capped off a remarkable journey that included a silver medal at Tokyo 2020 as a teenager and consecutive world silver medals in 2022 and 2023.

Bell’s performance in Paris was particularly inspirational as she achieved bronze in the 1500m after a career break in 2017 while Davey earned his third global relay medal at just 24. Trevor Painter and Jenny Meadows will now set their sights on the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo with hopes of guiding their athletes to further international glory. Last year, Pep Guardiola won the Coach of the Year award after his Manchester City team’s Treble success.